Guest: Rikk Estoban

Surprise! Today's guest strip was brought to you by the always controversial Rikk Estoban. If nothing else, he is certainly a versatile artist. His previous work wasn't entirely disimilar to my own. However, I think this strip's art reminds me more of another webcartoonist's work. I just can't quite place my finger on which one.

I can't link you to Rikk's website because he hasn't finished building it yet. He says that it's because you "can't rush real art," but between you and me, I think he's just a bit of a slacker. Don't worry, when Rikk finally launches his online home, I will definitely hook you up.

As I mentioned yesterday, a new DVD edition of the Iron Giant was released today! I haven't got my copy yet, but I will soon. I'm really hoping that lots of people will pick up this vastly underappreciated gem of animation now that director Brad Bird has made his name with a newer, more popular flick. Which new flick? I don't know, something about a family of computer-animated superheros, maybe you've heard of it?

Dave Tekiela is frequently a man of large pixels, but today's strip (and occassionaly his own comic) shows that he has a firm handle on the smaller variety, as well. Dave's strip for us today is the kind that gets funnier and funnier every time you read it... even if it is a touch more disturbing than this comic usually gets. I mean, killing off one of a comic's major cast members in a guest strip? How rude! What kindof cartoonistdoes that?

What a week of purchasable entertainment this is shaping up to be! In the next five days, Metroid Prime 2, Half-Life 2, Alien Hominid, Viewtiful Joe 2 and the new edition of The Iron Giant on DVD will all be landing in stores. I definitely won't be buying them all at once, but honestly, I probably shouldn't be buying any of them until I get this Christmas special finished!

Secondly, we have a comic from Jim Burgess, a man who usually spends his days drawing cartoon monkeys and sheep doing funny things. It looks like he could have a lucrative second career in marketing. Jim's comic has a little something we like to call "synergy."